Decolonizing the Dystopia: Science Fiction and the Postcolonial

In 2012, Saudi author and translator Yasser Bahjatt co-founded the organization Yatakhayaloon (“they are imagining”) with the objective of cultivating a distinctly “Arabic SciFi culture” through self-publication and self-promotion. Such an organization invites the question: what are the characteristics of science fiction as a genre? How do these tropes translate from the Gulf to the Mediterranean? In what way do regional conflicts, politics, and religion inform the representation of aliens and jinn, dystopias and reimagined world orders? In this course we will look at postcolonial science fiction novels, short stories, and comics published in Arabic, French, and English. We will analyze the rhetorical modes and major themes of the science fiction genre, as well as how these themes move across national-linguistic traditions and are adapted or reinterpreted within diverse cultural and historical contexts. We will also explore the way in which 20^th and 21^st century science fiction authors engage with postcolonial theory, ongoing regional unrest, and the legacy of the colonizer in their representations of dystopic political thrillers, alien invasions, and the posthuman. We will also engage with our works in translation as translations, integrating an introduction to translation theory into our discussion of the genre.

Satisfies General Education Requirements:

• Group-Satisfying: Arts and Letters
• Multicultural Courses: International Cultures (IC)